Latest News
Develop Your Own Pre-Race Routine
By Rick Paine
Want to swim faster and more competitively? If your answer is YES here is another quick question and the answer might surprise you. When coaches looked at the differences between athletes in the Olympics who medaled, versus the ones who did not, what distinguishing skills or characteristics do you think...
Lori filled the valuable 3rd party that I believe every swim family needs
By Melynda Nash
Lori Payne proved to be worth far more than what was ever expected. In a process that can be highly sensitive among a spectrum of personalities, expectations and realities, Lori was excellent at helping navigate. Her depth of knowledge of the programs, coaches, and the pulse of what was going...
We were grateful to have American College
By Melynda Nash
We potentially could have figured out how to navigate the recruiting
process, but it was one more thing we would have had to add to our
overflowing to-do lists. We were grateful to have American College
Connection and Rick as a partner. His familiarity with the unspoken rules of
the...
ACC has been an invaluable service to our family during the recruiting process - The Reno's
By Melynda Nash
ACC has been an invaluable service to our family during the recruiting process. It's their knowledge of the whole process that gave us confidence. Their expertise, professional experience and contact within the college swimming world was invaluable. Donny was open, honest and professional in all aspects of the recruiting process. ...
A Reality Check on Grades...Are You Affordable?
By Rick Paine
I know this may be hard for some of you to admit, but mom and dad were right.........................
Grades Do Count
College coaches will look at your times first to see if you can help them and then immediately look at your grades. Recruits with good times and good...
Lori helped us understand the very complex process of recruitment
By Melynda Nash
We enjoyed working with Lori Payne and ACC Recruits. She built a great relationship with our son and was always available to answer questions via text, email, and phone. Lori helped us understand the very complex process of recruitment to swim at the college level. She helped our son contact...
How to Separate Yourself from the Thousands of Recruits Out There
By Rick Paine
The odds of getting recruited and swimming in college are pretty slim. It has been estimated there are well over 40,000 high school senior girls and over 35,000 senior boys who want to swim in college every year. This is counting high school, club and international swimmers and the number...
When do I Start the College Recruiting Process?
By Rick Paine
This is a question that every swimmer who wants to swim in college is faced with. Too many times swimmers and their parents don’t consider this question early enough and lose a great number of options for colleges because they waited too long.
Being a former Division I Associate Head...
Excellent Resources for the International Student
By Melynda Nash
Coming to the United States to achieve your collegiate and athletic dreams can be both very exciting and very stressful! DO NOT PANIC! This document gives you step by step directions including links to access all of the information you need.
1. Register for the NCAA Eligibility Center – This is...
Manners in the First Degree
By Lori Payne
The old saying, "first impressions" could not be more true when you have your first contact with your potential college swim coach.
This is a formal interview; your tone, demeanor, interest in their school and manners, must be positive and well spoken. This is all indicative of their first impression...
Selling Your Potential
By Rick Paine
College coaches base a lot of their recruiting on a swimmer’s potential. Any good coach wants to believe they are recruiting a swimmer who they can help get faster. They are all looking for swimmers who are “headed in the right direction.”So how do you present your potential to college...
How New NCAA Rules are Affecting Scholarship Offers
By Rick Paine
A couple of years ago the NCAA changed its rules to allow coaches to guarantee scholarships beyond the first year. Some coaches do and some don’t. If a coach doesn't offer a guarantee, then you need to ask. Guarantees should be listed on the scholarship agreement form. Usually, but not...
WHAT DO COLLEGE COACHES THINK ABOUT JUNIOR COMMITMENTS?
By Rick Paine
Editor’s Note: Approximately 31% of college coaches in charge of recruiting responded to the survey. Approximately 79% of the respondents were NCAA Division I coaches.For years we have been reading about football, basketball, soccer, volleyball (etc. etc.) players committing early to a university. Swimming has finally jumped on the bandwagon as we...
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE A COACH’S BEST OFFER?
By Rick Paine
The answer is you don’t because most coaches don’t know. You can usually count on the first offer not being their best offer, but where do you go from there?College recruiting changes on a daily level throughout the year, but it changes on an hourly level in the fall. You...
SAT Testing Dates
By Melynda Nash
SAT Testing Dates
Click here to find this year's testing dates and deadlines:
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/register/dates-deadlines
ACT Testing Dates
By Melynda Nash
ACT Testing Dates:
https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act.html
New NCAA Rule Changes in Plain English
By Donny Brush
The NCAA passed new rules yesterday that will have a huge effect on recruiting. Our own NCAA Compliance Director spent several hours on the phone with the NCAA to make sure of our interpretation of the new changes.
This only affects Division I programs.
The new rules...
Did ACC help guide them to their ultimate decisions for which college to choose? The answer is yes! - Bryan Schultz, parent
By Melynda Nash
We first heard about ACC at a swim meet a couple years back. Knowing we were at the beginning process of researching colleges for our son and trying to make a plan, I looked into ACC and what they could offer us. I also conferred with other parents I knew...
The Importance of Extra Curricular / Volunteer Activities for the College-bound Athlete
By Melynda Nash
Juggling sports, academics and community service can lead to quite a hectic schedule for high school students; however, for the college-bound student these days, it is a must. According to Topunivserities.com, it does not matter what a student chooses as his or her volunteer work or extra-curricular activities, rather they...
Your help has been immeasurable! - Stacey Hansen, parent
By Melynda Nash
What a crazy process. I want to thank you for your guidance and patience.
Your help has been immeasurable. The endless hours of emails, calls, and
visits were worth it. Without the framework of visits and knowledge, we built
over the past 18 months of active recruiting Ginger may never...